Maybe I'm dense, but I'm not sure I understand what Ravelry's all about. Isn't it just a forum like here? It seems like some of the features I've heard people mention are just the same kinds of things you can post on a forum and get answers to, like questions about organizing yarn, what kind of yarns people used for their projects, etc. I feel kind of dumb because there seems to be a lot of excitement about it, but I'm not getting it. How does it differ from a forum like this one? Are there added benefits to being a part of it?

It does have forums and groups that you can post to... I have to admit that I'm not very good at keeping up with the ones I've joined...I check e-mail in the morning...post here...and then sometimes can find my way over there to read but not always...

What I like about it is the organization of my wips and fos...it also keeps track of your stash for you (which I still haven't entered everything yet)...it has queue where you can put projects that you want to knit...keeps it all in order for you and you don't have to go track down links or whatever when you are ready to start...it's all in ravelry...I like that I can mark fos with favorites and then can go back and find them with ease...just in case I don't at this moment want to add them to the queue... I also like that I can mark designers as a favorite and have their info in one spot... and yarn... I like that I can see my friend's wip and fos at just one click... you can keep up with what they are doing as well... I like that I can take a design enter it in ravelry and bring up tons of fos and wips showing different yarns they used...or putting in a yarn and coming up with a project...no more searching google now... you can also enter in socks and it brings up just sock patterns... or baby and you get baby items... it's just all right there one click from you... cuts out the searching time and finding the right link from google... will it replace KH as a forum or community? nope... really they don't even compare to me...one to me is organization...the other is KH ....have I joined groups over there? yes...it's neat to see all the Kals and groups...

I haven't gotten in yet, but I see it as more of a database with instant access...you don't have to wait for people to answer your question on a forum (although I've found people to be immediately helpful here) and have all your information at your fingertips. Less searching, more organization. I don't think it will replace KH for me at all.

Ravelry is hugely different than a forum. Ravelry has forums, but they are only a small part of the big picture.

Sure, you can ask people what they're working on, and they can tell you and post pictures. But on Ravelry, YOU click on one link to see EVERYONE who is working on the same project you're working on. You can see what yarns they're using, the needles, any comments they or others have made, etc.

Then lets say you have a couple skeins of yarn and you don't know what to do with it. You can search that yarn on Ravelry and again see all the projects people are knitting with it, along with the links to the patterns they're using, whether it's a free pattern online, or what book they're using and where to get it.

This is just a teeny little explanation. I really recommend you view the Ravelry Video Tour to get a better idea of what it's all about. There's a reason they already have over 30,000 members and people waiting to join in a little over 4 months!